1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to accessories that are mounted onto an all terrain vehicle (ATV) and the like, and more particularly to broadcast spreader mechanisms that that are mounted to ATVs and the like.
2. State of the Art
All terrain vehicles (ATVs) are popular as a mode of transportation, particularly for various types of off-road activities. Typically, an ATV is equipped with a factory installed (or other pre-existing) carrier rack. The carrier rack generally consists of a plurality of tubular members that are mounted to the frame of the ATV. The tubular members are arranged to form a horizontal support area and spaced apart in a manner that allows various items such as tents, guns, fishing poles, tackle boxes, other field equipment, to be removably attached thereto using rope, bungee cords and the like.
The rugged nature of the ATVs has also made it popular as a utility vehicle. For such purposes, it is cumbersome to repeatably lash items to the factory-installed carrier racks. Thus, it has become popular to mount accessory extension racks onto such factory-installed carrier racks. The extension rack provides a flat storage bed that is useful for carrying diverse items and animals, such as containers, bags, gear, tools, dogs, etc. An example of such an extension rack is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,502,728 to Savant.
It is also known to mount a broadcast spreader accessory to the top of an ATV carrier rack. For example, an ATV-mounted spreader accessory known as the “Bumper-Buddy” is sold commercially. It includes a conical hopper (20-gallon/50-lb. capacity) that is mounted behind and above the ATV rear rack by bolt mount clamps. A spreader mechanism that includes an aluminum flow control valve, spinner plate and motor are supported underneath the conical hopper. The broadcast spreader accessory provides for distribution of large quantities of seed, corn, granulated salt, fertilizer and other dry pellet material.
While the Bubby-Buddy spreader is useful, it suffers from several drawbacks. For example, because the spreader accessory is mounted on the ATV carrier rack, an extension rack cannot also be mounted onto the carrier rack due to interference between the two accessories. In the event that a user desires the functionality provided by both of these accessories, the user must independently demount and alternatively mount the respective accessories onto the ATV carrier rack, which is cumbersome and time consuming. In addition, because the Bumper Buddy spreader is mounted above the ATV carrier rack, it significantly obstructs rear vision, obstructs normal access and use of the rear rack, and also undesirably moves the center of gravity of the ATV so that the ATV is more prone to roll-over.
Moreover, commercially available broadcast spreaders typically employ a sliding gate mechanism to start and stop the feed of material for distribution. Such mechanisms are prone to leakage and/or jamming. Such failures cause material to spill wastefully and, in the case of fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and the like, such excess amounts can cause crop and/or lawn damage.
Automatic feed and distribution mechanisms have been developed that are less prone to leakage and jamming. An example is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,035 to Johnson, which employs a disc that is operably coupled via a rotating shaft to an electric motor. When the motor is powered on, the rotating shaft rotates, thereby driving rotation of the disc. The rotating shaft and disc incorporate a helical thread interface together with a return spring and stop mechanism. When the rotating shaft is not moving, the return spring biases the disc to remain in a closed position that prohibits distribution of material from a storage hopper. When the rotating shaft is initially rotated, the disc moves down the rotating shaft to an open position to allow for distribution of material from the storage hopper. In its open position, material exits the storage hopper and is distributed by rotation of the disc. This mechanism works well in automatically starting and stopping the feed of material from the storage hopper, but it is difficult to adjust the feed rate for a given size material and/or to adjust the feed rate for different size materials. Because of these limitations, the distribution mechanism is difficult to use with different size seeds or pellets and thus is used primarily for static feeding and distribution of feed for fish and game.